Fat/stock separator

Abstract

A fat/stock separator comprising a colander, a transparent hopper vessel with a trap, a support base and a flow valve mounted to and connected through the wall of the hopper vessel to the trap for draining fluid from the hopper vessel. The colander in a preferred embodiment is sufficiently large to accept the stock and meat parts produced from cooking a large portion of meat or fowl, such as a complete turkey. The oil and fat contained within the stock separates and floats to the top after standing for a period of time. It is then possible to draw off through the flow valve fat free stock from beneath the layer of oil. The contours of the trap and the transparency of the hopper vessel facilitate determining accurately where the fat free stock ends, thereby making it possible to draw off fat free stock, whether there is a large or a small amount of liquid in the hopper vessel.

Having described my invention I claim: 
     
       1. A fat/stock separator of the type that accepts stock containing fat and meat parts, strains the stock to separate out the meat parts, holds the stock for a period of time that is sufficient for the fat contained within the stock to float to the top of the stock, and drains off the clear stock left below the fat, said fat/stock separator comprising: (a) a hopper vessel having a generally open top and an open bottom formed by generally vertical side walls joined together along their generally vertical adjoining edges,   (b) a platform located within the hopper vessel between its top and bottom in a generally horizontal plane, said platform extending across the interior of the hopper vessels from side wall to side wall to provide, in combination with the side wails of hopper vessel, an upper hopper vessel volume sealed at its bottom by said platform and capable of holding stock, and also to provide a lower hopper vessel volume located immediately beneath said upper hopper vessel volume to support said upper hopper volume,   (c) a trap, formed in an area of said platform adjacent a side wall of said hopper vessel, said trap being depressed below the bottom of said platform and said trap having a bottom and generally vertical side walls that are sealed at their juncture with one another, with the bottom of the trap, with a side wall of said hopper vessel and with said platform to enable said trap to hold stock said trap forming a pocket below the level of said platform and being connected to said platform with its top open to the upper volume of the hopper vessel to collect and drain stock from said upper volume of said hopper vessel,   (d) a drain pipe port passing through a side wall of the hopper vessel to the inside of said trap at a location above and proximate the bottom of the trap, said port having a downward bias as it proceeds from the inside of the hopper vessel to the outside of the hopper vessel,   (e) a drain pipe having an inside conduit, said drain pipe being connected to said hopper vessel at said drain pipe port to drain stock from said trap and said drain pipe being positioned to continue the downward bias of the drain pipe port to aid the flow of stock through said drain pipe by means of gravity flow, and   (f) means for alternatively releasing and stopping the flow of stock through said drain pipe, to permit the flow of stock and stop the flow of fat and to separate the clear stock from the layer of fat.   
     
     
       2. A fat/stock separator as claimed in claim 1, wherein said hopper is transparent to permit an operator to see the layer of fat floating on the clear stock. 
     
     
       3. A fat/stock separator as claimed in claim 1, whereto the bottom of said trap is generally horizontal and includes an area that is at least ten percent of the area of said platform, the volume of said trap is at least ten percent of the upper volume of the upper hopper vessel to permit an operator to separate clean stock and fat that together only initially filled the trap. 
     
     
       4. A fat/stock separator as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a colander which includes: (a) vertical side walls connected together along their generally vertical edges to provide a partially enclosed volume that is open at the top and at the bottom,   (b) a strainer extending across the bottom of the side walls and being connected about its periphery to the bottom of the colanders side walls to separate meat and other solid parts contained in stock poured into the top of the colander, and   (c) means for attaching the bottom of the colander to the top of the hopper vessel to drain stock through the colander into the top volume of the hopper vessel.   
     
     
       5. A fat/stock separator as claimed in claim 4 whereto said colander has a minimum volume of 144 cubic inches to permit all the stock and the meat derived from cooking a large portion of meat to be placed into the colander at one time. 
     
     
       6. A fat/stock separator as claimed in claim 1 further compressing a plurality of holes through the side walls of said hopper vessel below the platform and trap to drain water through said holes and to facilitate cleaning said hopper vessel. 
     
     
       7. A fat stock separator as claimed in claim 1 further comprising a base which includes generally vertical side walls joined to one another about their vertical edges to provide a partially enclosed volume open at its top and bottom, said base having a cross section at its top that is similar in configuration and dimensions to, but smaller than the bottom of said hopper vessel to fit the top of said base into the bottom of the hopper vessel to support said hopper vessel above a working surface. 
     
     
       8. A fat/stock separator as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a flow valve which includes: (a) a drain pipe with an internal conduit, said drain pipe being attached at one end to the side wall of said hopper vessel containing said drain port to connect its internal conduit with said drain pipe port,   (b) a first and second valve bracket formed of a general flat plate material with both brackets being generally identical in shape, said brackets having a generally linear, lower edge with said brackets being secured along said lower edge to the top of said drain pipe and said brackets being positioned parallel to one and another with a space between them, both of said brackets having a pin port and a bearing shaft port, said pin port having a centrally located axis and said bearing port having a centrally located axis, said pin and bearing port axes being separated from one and another and both of said axes being oriented generally orthogonal to the flat surface of said brackets,   (c) a control lever including an upper and a lower portion, and an upper longitudinal axis generally passing through the center of the upper portion of said control lever and a lower longitudinal axis generally passing through the center of the lower portion of said control lever, said upper and lower axes of said control lever lying in a single plane and intersecting in the midsection of said control lever to form an an angle of intersection with one another, said control lever having a generally planar left and a generally planar right side, said planar left and planar right side being parallel to one another and also to said upper and lower axes, said control lever left and right sides being spaced apart from one other by a distance referred to as the control lever width, said control lever width being less than said space between said flow valve brackets to fit said control lever between said flow valve brackets,   (d) a left and a right bearing shaft being depressably mounted on the left and fight sides respectively of said control lever proximate the intersection of said upper and lower axes, said bearing shafts extending orthogonally outwardly of said control lever left and right sides respectively, said bearing shafts being centrally aligned on a single bearing shaft axis, said bearing shaft axis being orthogonal to said control lever right and left sides,   (f) resilient means positioned between said bearing shafts within said control lever, said resilient material being compressed as said bearing shafts are depressed within said control under the application of a force and said resilient material returning to its original size forcing said bearing shafts to their original position extending outwardly of said control lever when said force is removed,   (g) a pivot joint for said control lever formed of said bearing shafts and said bearing shaft ports, said bearing shafts being depressed by said force to fit said control lever between said valve brackets and said bearing shafts being released from said force when said bearing shaft are aligned with said bearing shaft ports, said bearing shafts extending through said bearing shaft ports when released from said force, and   (h) a stopper end formed at one end of said control lever which is positioned to fit into the end of said drain pipe away from said hopper vessel to stop the flow of fluid through said drain pipe when said stopper end is positioned inside said dram pipe and to release the flow when said stopper end is removed from said drain pipe, said stopper end being removed from said drain pipe through actuation of said control lever by rotating said control lever about said pivot joint, and   (i) a spring and means for connecting said spring between said brackets and said lower portion of said control lever below said pivot joint to hold the stopper end of said control lever within the conduit of said drain pipe to stop the flow of fluid prior to actuation of said control lever.   
     
     
       9. A fat/stock separator as claimed in claim 8, whereto said stopped end of said control lever and the internal conduit in said drain pipe are circular in cross section and said separator further comprising an "O"-ring which is fitted about said circular stopper end to function as a valve gasket to aid in stopping the flow of fluid through said dram pipe. 
     
     
       10. A fat stock separator as claimed in claim 8 further comprising a pin, said pin having a left and a right end with the left and right pin ends being positioned in the pin port of the left and right bracket respectively, and said pin serving as the means for connecting said spring to said brackets.